How To Make Your Own Wine

If you love the beauty of grapevines in the sun, the rich taste of wine, and a Tuscan landscape, you’re a perfect candidate for learning how to make your own wine. Not only will the world of wine suddenly become your own, but by making your own wine you will acquire a greater appreciation for the taste of wine. You’ll discover what aspects of wine making contribute to the flavors, aroma, color and texture of a glass of wine. And though wine making is a tradition going back thousands of years, you can learn how to make your own wine by starting with a simple wine making recipe like this one.

What you’ll need to make your own wine:

3 one litter bottles of pure, organic grape juice

6 empty wine bottles

Sugar

Dry yeast (which you can find in the baking aisle of your supermarket)

6 tsp of water

Sugar

Clean white rags

Rubber bands

Distilled water

Funnel

Cool, dry place

Follow these steps to make your own wine

Prepare the grape juice for fermentation. Divide the 3 bottles of grape juice into 4 bottles each with an equal amount of juice. This will create an empty space at the top of the bottle, in which to generate the fermentation required for making wine. Add 2 1/2 Tbsp of sugar to each bottle and shake well to dissolve the sugar. Sugar will be consumed by the yeast during the wine making process and increase the alcohol level of the grape juice.

Proof the yeast. Put 6 tsp of lukewarm water in a glass. Sprinkle 1/2 tsp of dry yeast over the water, then sprinkle the yeast with 1 tsp of sugar to activate it. Allow the yeast to foment for 3 hours. To make your own wine, take care to give the yeast time to develop a rich, thick foam.

Add the yeast to the grape juice. Divide the fomented yeast between the 4 bottles of grape juice. Shake the bottles well to mix the yeast with the juice. To make your own wine with a high enough alcohol level to qualify as wine and not merely an alcoholic juice, you must spread the yeast evenly through the grape juice.

Cover the Juice bottles. A key element in wine making requires letting fermentation gas out of the bottle but not letting air in. Therefore, use clean white rags to cover the bottleneck. Fold the rag in half to create a double layer of cover, then place it over the bottleneck and seal in place with a tightly wound rubber band.

Leave the wine in a dark room. Make sure the room is odorless, or your homemade wine will have an aftertaste or aroma of the scent of the room. Keep a steady temperature of 77°F and leave the wine to foment for 9 days.

Transferring and tasting. When you make your own wine you have control over the fermentation process. Every 2 or 3 days, open the fomenting wine bottles and transfer the contents into new, clean bottles. Do not pour out the sediment at the bottom. Recover the wine and let it continue fomenting. You can tell if the wine is ready for transfer by tasting it. If it is too sweet that means the yeast has not had time to consume the sugar and turn it into alcohol. Therefore wait another day before the transfer. If the juice is too sour, you should transfer the wine immediately and decrease the intervals between transfers. Wine making is a labor of love, so spend time learning the taste of fomenting wine, until you have no doubt when to transfer the wine into a clean bottle.

Age your homemade wine. After 9 days, transfer your wine into a clean bottle and fill it to the top, to minimize air. Store in a cool, odorless, dark place for 6 months.

You may find that how to make your own wine is fairly easy. The quality of your homemade wine will depend on your patience and tasting of the wine while it foments. Cheers and good luck.